No room to shelter impounded stray cattle, say prison authorities

Vellore Mayor Sujatha Anandakumar inspecting the stray cattle seized in Vellore. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Citing poor infrastructure and inadequate funds, prison authorities turned down the suggestion made by the Mayor on sheltering seized stray cattle at the Central Prison (Vellore).

“At the moment, we are not in a position to handle stray cattle with the poor infrastructure. Adequate fund needs to be allotted. The manpower also needs to be expanded for the tiring job,” A. Abdul Rahman, Superintendent, Central Prison, told The Hindu. Mr. Abdul was responding to the suggestion made by Mayor Sujatha Anandakumar.

The prison complex is spread over 153 acres and accommodates 1,350 inmates, including 150 women. It also houses 250 quarters accommodating over 800 families of the prison staff members. Around 250 of them, who are on duty at a time in the complex, are busy with their daily routine work, including surveillance of inmates.

As per norms, an open-air prison can maintain a goshala for milk supply and the use of cow dung for other purposes. Currently, the Central Prison has 28 cattle in its temporary goshala. A decade ago, the prison had over 60 cattle, mostly cows, in its refurbished goshala, which became defunct due to poor upkeep, prison officials said.

Every day, the Corporation, on an average, gets 100-200 calls from the public on stray cattle menace. However, cattle breeders’ failure to keep cows in their designated enclosures, which is caused by a paucity of space, has led to the bovine animals making their presence felt on every major thoroughfare in the town.

With the onset of monsoon, the cattle, unable to lie on moist ground, shift their resting place to relatively warmer roads, especially during night. Even during the day, the stray cattle, undeterred by speeding vehicles, either stand in the middle of the road or take rest on the thoroughfares, officials said.

At present, 10-20 stray cattle are impounded by the civic body every day. It also imposes a fine of ₹2,000 and ₹5,000 on repeat offenders. The Corporation also allows a local Jaina goshala to handle its seized stray cattle. However, owners of the cattle often argue with goshala authorities over the release of the cattle.

“We are planning to seize stray cattle permanently instead of returning them to their owners after paying a fine. It will act as a deterrent against such practice. The Council’s nod is required,” said P. Janaki Raveendran, Corporation Commissioner.